


DAW

by magicianofesperance



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Main Character(s), Alya has the Ladybug Miraculous, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, alyadrien, ninette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29449593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianofesperance/pseuds/magicianofesperance
Summary: Animan AU. The tables have turned and Marinette is now trapped in an enclosure with Nino as Alya and Adrien must engage in battle with her own father as Animan.Dedicated to Mantabanter for theSuperior Miraculous Server prompt exchange event. Come and join us on Discord! (link)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire| Lady Rouge, Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6
Collections: Palentine's Day Parade Prompt Exchange





	DAW

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mantabanter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mantabanter/gifts).



Damp with sweat, Nino looked down into the palms of his hands. He fretted at the idea. So many ideas all rushing through his head at once. He looked to his side and there she was: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The light glistened against her grey eyes and shone through her hair. The blue undertones seemingly radiating off her. Letting out a lovestruck sigh, he forgot himself and let himself stare a moment longer that made himself feel a tad uncomfortable.

Marinette was looking away from him, watching Lady Rouge run away with nothing she could do about. They were trapped together in an animal enclosure together as wild animals passed along on the concrete walkways surrounding them. She felt taunted by them. Nonetheless, she admired how Alya knew how to plunge head-first into the action. _‘There’s a certain pain one must feel having to chase after their own father like that,’_ Marinette thought. 

A painful mixture of guilt and relief flooded her whenever she looked back to only a few days before that she gave her best friend the Ladybug Miraculous that fateful day when Ivan was akumatized into Stoneheart. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but alas, she couldn’t shake the feeling she not only denied the looming shroud of fate itself, but that the conquerage of her own destiny now rested in the palms of her own hands.

She scoffed at herself. _‘Destiny in my own hands would not put me in a cage, locked with Nino,’_ she thought to herself. Marinette gave a small huff before facing the boy, raising her eyebrow. “Are you okay? You look a little flushed.”

 _‘She’s speaking to me!’_ His eyes widened in shock. “Oh, aha! No, I’m doing okay.” He pushed his glasses further up on his strong roman nose.

“Well, that’s okay.” Marinette grimaced. She didn’t want to. She tried to smile, but she felt too strongly about the events of that day.

“When we, uh, get out of here, um uh, what would you, uh, like to, uh aha,” Nino felt like a stumbling mess, barely able to thread a sentence, “I mean, is there any animal you were wanting to look at, um, together?”

“Thank you, Nino, for trying to make light of our situation,” Marinette nodded, raising her eyebrows trying to communicate gratitude with some body language, “but this is not what I had planned today. Today is going absolutely horribly and you’re just making me get more frustrated about it. I thought I was going on a date to the zoo with Adrien, but I haven’t even seen him today!”

Nino furrowed his brows and swallowed. His chest sunk into his stomach. “B- But he’s the one that helped me plan this _date_ with you.” His eyes widened. “Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean date per se, though I guess I wanted to be. I mean-”

Marinette gasped. She processed his words, speaking slowly. “What? Adrien arranged for me to go on a date with you?”

Nino removed his earpiece. “He did. And I have zero clue where my bro even went when the _thing_ happened a few minutes ago.”

Marinette removed her earpiece and showed it to him too. “Alya did the same thing for me, honestly.”

Nino smirked before realization hit him. “Oh. For _Adrien._ ” Nino banged his fists against his temples. “Why am I so stupid?” A lump formed in his throat. His worse fears of today wear becoming a reality. “I know it was possible you wouldn’t want to be with me, but I didn’t know it was going to be this difficult.”

Back on the other side of the park, Chat Noir walked from enclosure to enclosure, trying to find Marinette and Nino again. He smiled, seeing Lady Rouge in the corner of his eye. “M’Lady!”

“Chat! Air kisses.” Distanced, they pretended to hug, making _“mwah”_ sounds from their mouths. “You did such a great job. You really know what you’re doing.”

Chat Noir smiled. A loose fang of his dangled off the edge of his lips. “I couldn’t possibly take any more credit than you should, although I’m _purr-_ ty great, aren’t I?”

“You’re such a silly cat.” Lady Rouge giggled. “I love that ego. I can’t get enough of your humour.”

Chat gave her a wink. “Did you remember where you put Marinette and Nino?”

She raised her brow. “I’m not going to ask how you know their names, but this way.” 

Chat followed her through what seemed like a twisting labyrinth of a zoo. She knew it so well, like the back of her hand in a way he never could have. He sighed to himself, constantly being reminded of just how trapped he always was at home. She’s probably been here with _friends._ On several occasions. That was wild to think about. He could hardly process that people actually went out and did the things they enjoyed for leisure, not dictated by a crammed chock-full schedule.

He had to take his mind off that thought, so he thought about his favourite Lady. That fateful day when Hawkmoth began his reign of terror with Stoneheart, he met two Ladybugs. Why? That was beyond him, of course, but he couldn’t help but admire Lady Rouge’s strength and determination. The previous Ladybug had all but disappeared, never to be seen again or known where she went. Though he had to move on from that. Whoever held the Ladybug Miraculous was his partner and he had to protect her, no matter what. She was vital; she was essential to the halting of Hawkmoth’s twisted deeds. Still, he knew, he had fallen for this new Ladybug: Lady Rouge. She was different from the one from before, that’s for sure, but she had a style all of her own.

Lady Rouge opened the enclosure door with an air of confidence surrounding her. “My fa- I mean, Otis, the zookeeper has been purified from his akumatized state and I think you two should be safe to-” She stopped. Her bright cheeriness was a tonal dissonance between Marinette and Nino. _‘Is Nino crying?’_ She began breathing heavy. “What is going on? Marinette, explain to me what just happened this instant.”

* * *

All throughout the shadows of Paris, it was said even the darkness itself trembled when mysterious forces rose into action. With the abuse of its magical power, a Miraculous echoed its power for miles on end. For the most unfeeling man in Paris, it felt quite ironic his power was that to feel emotion.

“Otis has been today’s failure, but aha! I sense this is far from over; he was a mere play-trial.” With one hand, Hawkmoth adjusted the flap of his collar. He proceeded to trace his jaw before cooly laying his hand upon his chin in a reflective thought. The cold of his metal mask could almost be felt through his fine-tipped leather gloves. In the other hand, he firmly wrapped each finger snug around the spherical head of his cane. “Whose child is this?” he cooed. “Devastation birthed from the emotional destruction of rejection and unrequited infatuation? This will do. This will do indeed.”

* * *

A purple glow surrounded Nino’s face for a brief moment. No one could move in time to stop what was about to happen next. “Yes, Hawkmoth,” Nino said in an angry murmur. His body became engulfed in a cloud of darkness, undergoing his akumatization transformation.

“Nino!” Chat Noir screamed.

He looked up, his eyes still closed and adjusted his glasses. With a devilish smirk, he opened his eyes. His irises had vanished and the colour of his amber brown eyes simply seemed to glow as if they were their own light source. “I am no longer Nino. I am Soundwave: the Digital Audio War Shaman.”

“That name is a little long, don’t you think?” Chat remarked to Lady Rouge.

“Soundwave, please,” he said before Rouge could speak. “Now, as for my oscillators.” Soundwave pulled a light blue box from his pocket with a small black glass screen. “Sawtooth wave,” he said cooly. Soon enough, a repeating sharp red line appeared on the monitor. “Let me and Marinette out of here, Lady Rouge and Chat Noir and give me your Miraculouses.”

Rouge crossed her arms. “And if I were to say no?”

“Sawtooth.” A blaring synthetic sound emerged from his box, cutting the cage open in a clean slice. “Now hand me your Miraculouses.”

“Lucky Charm!” Lady Rouge cried. In her hands appeared an odd magic gadget. It was a metal rod with two prongs. The world faded to grey as her creativity sprung to life. She lifted her brows to Chat at him.

“Got it,” Chat murmured. With his claws, he pounced Soundwave.

“Sine wave!” Before Chat could even reach him, he was bubbled in a soft humming sound.

“His baton,” Rouge said under her breath. He had dropped it at her feet. She grabbed it, striking the prong against it. 

“A tuning fork?” Soundwave raised his eyebrow.

In a moment, the bubble dissipated.

 _‘The sounds cancelled,’_ Rouge thought to herself. She tossed her yo-yo to Chat. “Take care of the purification, I’m taking care of the victim.” She pounced him, ready to strike.

“Square wave!”

Right as the square form was appearing, Lady Rouge struck the tuning fork against the baton again, cancelling the sound. His power could no longer slow her. She struck the oscillator box, breaking it and freeing the akuma from him.

“Nino!” Marinette ran to him as he collapsed out on the floor. He laid across her lap. “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry. I can’t believe I said those mean things.”

“Do you mean that?” he said, opening his eyes.

“Oh, thank goodness you didn’t pass out.”

“I don't remember much of what happened. I hope it wasn’t too bad.”

“It was scary, I’ll be honest.” Marinette gazed into his deep amber eyes, stroking her fingers through the locks of his dark brown hair that seemed to separate into near spikes. “Also, I mean, your cap is cute and all, but I think you’re more handsome without it.”

Nino haphazardly adjusted his glasses. “You think so?” He blushed, giving a dark red undertone beneath his dark skin.

She wrapped his arms around his shoulders and rested her forehead against his temples. “I’m so sorry for being insensitive to you, Nino. I didn’t understand what was happening and my crush on Adrien didn’t let me see what was really going on.”

Nino looked at her, unsure of what she was going to say next. “So, I’m taking it you’re not interested in me?”

Marinette smiled. “I’ve known you since Kindergarten, Nino. We may not have been the closest of friends, but I’m comfortable with you and I like your music. Could you give me another shot at this and we can do it right this time?”

Nino grabbed onto neck hole of his blue v-neck, flustered. “I would love that.” A smirk crawled up the side of his face. “Wait, doesn’t the zoo close soon?”

She giggled. “Nino, the zoo is in utter havoc. I don’t think-” Marinette stopped. Her eyes widened. All the animals had returned to their exhibits already. “Did- did Lady Rouge fix all of this?”

“Yes I did,” Lady Rouge said before the beep of her earrings went off. “Chat, we’ve got to go.”

All of their attention was directed to above them. “I’m one step ahead of you, m’lady.” He jumped away and out of sight. When they looked back down, Lady Rouge had seemingly disappeared.

People started to crowd into the zoo, now back to its former glory with the akuma purified and damage reparations taken care of.

Alya walked over to the two of them as Marinette began to speak to her. “I’m going to be walking around the park with Nino.” Marinette handed her back the earpiece. “I don’t think I’ll be needing this.”

Alya accepted the device into the palm of her hand, raising her brow. “Girl, what about Adrien?”

“Alya, I’m going to give him a chance. If it doesn’t work out, I mean, it’s not the end of the world, you know? There are only so many opportunities and I think this is a good one to take a bet on.”

Alya wrapped her arms around her, giving her a tight hug. “This is so big! I’m happy for you. Go live your best life.”

Marinette smiled, hugging her too. “In the short time I’ve known you, you really are one of the best friends I ever could have asked for.” She turned around, facing Nino and took in a deep breath.

“What would you like to see first, Marinette?” Nino asked.

“I think there’s a small critters building over here,” she replied, pointing at a map.

“That’s so cool. I kind of wanted to see the turtles.”

“Cute! Do you think they have frogs?”

Nino smiled. “Frogs are cool too. I think they should.”

They walked to the exhibit, stopping at each animal enclosure on the way. Standing, looking at the lions, Nino realized Marinette’s hand was open. His eyes looked up. Softly, his knuckles seemed to rub against hers. He swiftly looked back down from the corner of his eye. He wanted to badly. He couldn’t resist the urge, so he ripped off the bandage and clasped her hand in his. His body went stiff as a board in the shock of the anxiety. His heart pumped and raced and face near-disturbed.

Marinette finally looked at him, unable to stop laughing. “You are so wholesome.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“You know, we could see a movie on Friday, if you’d like.”

She smiled back at him. “I’d like that a lot.”


End file.
